Saturday crash, explosion injures 3 at Deming Walmart

A midday propane tank explosion at the Deming Walmart Supercenter has injured three, according to Deming Police.

Shortly before noon today, witnesses said a red Ford pickup and a white Ford SUV struck each other immediately in front of the store, causing the red truck to veer off into the building, hitting a propane tank attached to a trailer used to cook food for fundraisers. The truck continued on and broke through the building wall.

Deming man Jim Shoup says he was walking to his vehicle in the parking lot when he heard a loud crash. When he turned around, he saw the red truck barreling toward the store and shortly after, a large fireball.

Walmart employees on the scene confirmed the series of events, but declined to share their names, citing the store policy against talking to media. "It was like a movie explosion," one employee said, pointing to the American flag flying over the building as a marker of how high the fireball shot into the air. "I could feel the heat from over there."

Witnesses say a Walmart employee named "Robin" ran to the site of the explosion to rescue the driver of the red truck. It was unclear if she was successful.

Police on scene said three people were transported to Mimbres Memorial Hospital with "pretty bad burns," but that the injuries did not appear life-threatening.

A hospital official was not immediately available for a status report on the injured.